md

After teen is shot, mom allegedly goes first to WebMD

Our lives tend to be defined by the decisions we make. And the ones we don't.

Please place yourself, therefore, into the hands and mind of someone whose 14-year-old son has just been shot. He has been shot by a friend playing with a gun.

What might be your first decision?

I fancy that, for many, the choice might be to take the boy to the nearest hospital. However, this was not the decision allegedly taken by Deborah Tagle of Santa Fe, Texas.

As KHOU-TV reports, she allegedly felt the most appropriate course of action was to go to … Read more

Rarefied Retina MacBook Pros get priced closer to earth

MacBook Pros equipped with a Retina display are not exactly priced to move. Best Buy and Amazon are trying to change that.

Best Buy, for example, is now selling the 128GB version (model MC975LL/A) of the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro Retina for $1,549.99, $150 off the regular $1,699.99 price.

Need 256GB of solid-state storage with that gorgeous Retina screen? That model (MD213LL/A) is now $1,799.99, $200 off the regular price of $1,999.99.

The pricier 15.4-inch models with 256GB and 512GB solid-state drives (MC975LL/A and MC976LL/A, respectively), also … Read more

Scosche 'reference grade' Bluetooth headphones raise eyebrows

LAS VEGAS--Scosche's contribution to the CES fray includes three new headphone models added to its Realm dynamic range of headphones.

First up are the RH1056mdbt "reference-grade" Bluetooth headphones with a 33-foot range and side-mounted earcup controls. Few other details are included in the presser, but with no indication of additional codec technology like aptX included, it's hard to believe that these sound any better than your standard A2DP Bluetooth profile.

Best Buy chimes in with MacBook, laptop deals

Best Buy is doing its part to make MacBooks more affordable--and also offering decent deals on Windows laptops.

11.6-inch MacBook Air: In the shadow of Apple's Black Friday deals, Best Buy is striving to stand out with better deals. And it's succeeding in some cases. For instance, the retailer is selling the 11.6-inch MacBook Air with an Intel Core i5 chip, 2GB Memory, and 64GB solid-state drive (model: MC968LL/A) for $849--that's about $50 less than Apple's Black Friday $898 sale price. (And note that MacMall has been selling a 2010 11.6-inch MacBook Air for $799.)… Read more

OS X Lion installer 'cannot be verified' after download

One problem that some people are having with the new Mac OS X Lion release is that the downloaded installer appears to be getting corrupted during the download process. After purchasing and downloading the installer, some find that the system will claim that the software cannot be verified after it has been launched.

Multiple users have confirmed that the MD5 checksum for the installer disk image is "b5d3753c62bfb69866e94dca9336a44a," and you can check this on your downloaded installer by running the following command in the Terminal (copy and paste it):

/sbin/md5 "/Applications/Install Mac OS X Lion.… Read more

The 404 858: Where dreams really do come true (podcast)

News of the Black Eyed Peas' hiatus proves that if you wish for something long enough, dreams really do come true. On today's episode, Jeff tells us about the long-awaited intersection of tech geekdom and hockey, we analyze WebMD's involvement in the spread of "cyberchondria," and we dispute a Dutch study that claims smoking marijuana makes you a better gamer.

The 404 Digest for Episode 858

Geekdom and hockey collide: The campaign for NHL player Mike Commodore to wear No. 64. The Black Eyed Peas go on hiatus; Jeff celebrates. WebMD reports: Internet makes hypochondria worse. Does marijuana make you a better gamer? Jeff's Cute Animal Video of the Week, starring a street-crossing sloth. Mitch B's custom 404 iPhone case and BodyGuardz iPad case!

Episode 858 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Sony to stop producing MiniDisc Walkman devices

Due to shrinking demand, Sony will cease production of MiniDisc Walkman devices this coming September, Nikkei reported today. This marks yet another blow to the dying format, which experienced a roller-coaster ride of popularity during its 20-year lifetime.

During MiniDisc's introduction at CES 1991, Norio Ohga, Sony's president and CEO at the time, boasted that "the success and benefits of CD and analog compact cassette led to a new need--a need based on satisfaction with CD's wonderful sound, durability, and quick random access, and a need based on the portability, recordability, and shock resistance of the analog cassette. It is a need for MiniDisc."

A need, indeed. After launching the first MD products in 1992, Sony would go on to sell more than 22 million MiniDisc devices (as of March 2011), with millions more sold by other companies that licensed the technology, including big names such as Sharp, Kenwood, Panasonic, and others. … Read more

Security firm Barracuda hit by cyberattack

Security company Barracuda Networks was itself hit by a security breach over the weekend that exposed certain information from its databases.

An unknown hacker, who apparently took credit for the break-in, launched an attack that exposed a list of Barracuda databases along with the names, phone numbers, and e-mail address of various Barracuda partners.

The attack also uncovered the e-mail addresses of different Barracuda employees along with their passwords. Though the passwords were encrypted, they were done so using a hashing algorithm called MD5, which is considered by many to be a flawed and outdated encryption method.

The attacker grabbed … Read more

Samsung shows 3- and 6-panel spatial display

LAS VEGAS--Giant displays that you'll never have the disposable income to afford have been around for years. On Thursday, Samsung confirmed that it intends to continue the trend, with the release of the Samsung SyncMaster MD230.

The display is sold in bundles of three and six with a custom stand included. According to Samsung, it is targeting what it calls "the power gamer," as well as business users with the device.

Samsung partnered with AMD-ATI's to use its Eyefinity technology to develop the screen.

According to Samsung, the MD230 features bezels that are 50 percent to … Read more

Simple MD5 checker

MD5 Checksum Calculator is a bare-bones program for calculating and comparing MD5 files. While its layout leaves something to be desired, its results are fast and simple.

The program's interface is sparse, and the program offers no Help file or other instructions to guide users through its processes. Fortunately, some experimentation quickly produced a familiarity with the program's few command icons. You simply search a file tree to calculate your sum. Clicking on a specific file or program generates its MD5 sum, which is often used to check the integrity of files. MD5 Checksum Calculator can also compare … Read more